Women Breaking into the War Art Scene

Women Breaking Into the War Art Scene: "Market Scene, Giverny" by Mary Riter Hamilton

By focusing on the life and work of Canadian artist Mary Riter Hamilton, this section intends on highlighting the struggles female artists faced in the early 20th century while trying to break into the war art scene. 

Although Hamilton was not commissioned by the Canadian War Memorials Fund, she still succeeded in painting WWI art. At the time, it was unfathomable to allow a female artist to travel to the battlefront. Female war artists were expected to paint behind the front lines and on the homefront. Hamilton, however, was not willing to abide by the societal standards of the time. Because the War Memorials Fund was not willing to commission Hamilton to paint overseas, Hamilton took it upon herself to travel to the Western Front. Only months after the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, Hamilton travelled across the Western Front to paint 300 battlefield scenes between 1919 and 1922 [1]. "The Sadness of the Somme" is just one of Hamilton’s 300 wartime pieces. 

One art historian named A.K. Prakash has written about the artistic standards female artists were expected to abide by at the time; these being sympathetic themes that reaffirmed and dramatised the importance of life through images of children, young women, mothers and their children. In fact, Hamilton’s earlier work tended to focus on soft themes catering to women and children as seen in her 1907 work “Market Scene, Giverny” [2].  On the other hand, Hamilton’s wartime art challenged these expectations. “The Sadness of the Somme" depicts exactly the opposite of what women were expected to portray. Hamilton’s scenes of empty barren land where deadly battles had been fought alluded to the destruction that humanity was capable of.

Ultimately, Hamilton’s story serves as a reminder that, despite the War Memorial Fund’s crucial work, those in charge of maintaining the status quo of the time did not go above and beyond to support the work of wartime female artists. Regardless of the barriers she faced, Hamilton’s relentless desire to depict the reality of war remains an inspiring example of strength and adversity, while at the same time adding valuable wartime art to Canada's material past.